Battle of Boyacá

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Battle of Boyacá
Part of Bolivar's War, Bolivar in New Granada
Date August 7, 1819 Location Boyacá, Colombia Result Republican (Bolívar) victory
Combatants
Independence armies of New Granada	Spain
Commanders
Simón Bolívar	José María Barreiro
Strength
2900	2700
Casualties
66 dead or wounded	250 dead or wounded, 1600 captured

Colombia, then known as New Granada, acquired its definitive independence from Spain at the Battle of Boyacá. Brigadier Generals Francisco de Paula Santander and José Antonio Anzoátegui led a combined republican army of Colombians and Venezuelans, complemented by a small British Legion made up of mostly Irish volunteers (including some veterans from the Napoleonic Wars), to victory over a Spanish Royalist force led by Colonels José María Barreiro and Francisco Jiménez. The battle occurred 150 km from Bogotá in the Andes Mountains.

After securing a narrow victory at Pantano de Vargas, the vanguard of Bolívar's forces, led by Santander, eventually caught up with the Royalist army in its march towards the road leading to Bogotá, the capture of which would effectively cut off the advance of the republican army and give the strategic initiative to its opponents.

The republican vanguard forced a confrontation through a surprise attack which divided Barreiro's army at a strategic bridge, splitting the Royalist force in half. Each half was defeated in turn by Santader's and Anzoátegui's forces, which used their cavalry squadrons to strike their foes' respective rearguards.

At least 1,600 troops and several of the Spanish commanders, including Barreiro himself, were captured at the end of the battle. New Granada's liberation was assured by this victory, which left the road to Bogotá and the city itself practically undefended, as the survivors headed towards other locations. After the battle, Santander and Anzoátegui were promoted to the rank of Division General, the equivalent of Major General.

The bridge in question, el Puente de Boyacà, is no longer in use but it has been maintained as a symbol of the Independence of South America.